They reduced the number of seats from 3,300 in Dallas's old opera house to 2,200 -- slightly more than Covent Garden but substantially fewer than New York's Metropolitan Opera -- mainly to enhance the dramatic experience, but also partly in recognition that in this age, seats have to be larger. "People want wider seats, as basically they have bigger bottoms," de Grey said. "It's a very compact space. People can't believe it has so many seats in such a small area."